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Resolution 42/21 (U.N.H.R. Council)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2022

Philip C. Aka
Philip C. Aka*
Affiliation:
Former Dean and Professor of Law, International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A member of the Illinois State Bar, Dr. Aka earned J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees from various U.S. law schools, along with a Ph.D. in political science from Howard University. In Fall 2022, he served as a Fulbright Specialist in Sierra Leone, where he worked with a non-governmental organization to review and harmonize election laws in that West African country.
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Extract

On July 13, 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted a resolution designed to facilitate the enjoyment of the human rights and other basic freedoms of Africans and people of African descent in every region of the world, specifically against excessive use of force by law enforcement officers. The Resolution deplored all forms of racial discrimination against Africans and people of African descent, condemned “the continuing racially discriminatory and violent practices” perpetrated against this group by many law enforcement officials, and urged states “to seize every opportunity” to implement an “anti-racism agenda” that prioritizes “racial equality and justice” for the group, including better use of independent national human rights institutions and preferential programs, among other far-reaching, substantive techniques. Although not yet constituted, the Resolution established an independent committee, comprising individuals with law enforcement and human rights expertise, charged with the responsibility for “advanc[ing] racial justice and equality [with]in the context of law enforcement in all parts of the world” through various means that include visits to countries where violations are taking place.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 2023 , pp. 276 - 283
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law

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References

ENDNOTES

1 See, e.g., M. Patrick Cottrell, The Evolution and Legitimacy of International Security Institutions 65–99 (2016) (“From League of Nations to United Nations”).

2 Charter of the U.N., ch. VII, https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/ctc/uncharter.pdf.

3 See, e.g., U.N. High Commissioner H.R., Promoting and Protecting Minority Rights A Guide for Advocates (2012).

4 Katie Lockwood, Is the International System Racist? E-Int'l Relations (Mar. 3, 2019), https://www.e-ir.info/2019/03/03/is-the-international-system-racist/. For a penetrating analysis imbued with more historical depth, see Srdjan Vucetic and Randolph B. Persaud, Race in International Relations, in Race, Gender, and Culture, in International Relations: Postcolonial Perspectives ch.3 (Persaud and Alina Sajed, eds., 2018) (arguing that “[r]ace and racism manifest themselves in … mutable, context-dependent forms,” mandating that “international relations scholars … develop conceptual and political ways of understanding them,” even as they “reflect on their own position as both producers and products of the Eurocentric and ideological base of white supremacy.” See also Tilden J. Le Melle, Race in International Relations, 10 Int'l Stud. Perspectives 77–83 (2009) (arguing that from the twentieth into the twenty-first century, “the problem of color in domestic and international relations still remains,” and that, for all the important changes that have taken place in world politics, including the emergence of China and India, non-European countries, as major powers, “[t]he international system remains still a white dominant racially stratified system.”)

5 See William L. Patterson (ed.), We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government against the Negro People (1970); and Carol Anderson, Eyes off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944–1955 (2003). See also Alex Hinton, 70 Years Ago Black Activists Accused the U.S. of Genocide, Politico (Dec. 26, 2021), https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/12/26/black-activists-charge-genocide-united-states-systemic-racism-526045.

6 See Anne-Christine Poujoulat, Protests Across the Globe after George Floyd's Death, CNN (Updated June 13, 2020), https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/world/gallery/intl-george-floyd-protests (one placard from a protest in Manchester, England, read that COVID-19 and racism are “2 viruses killing Black people”).

7 Evan Hill et al., How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody, The New York Times (May 31, 2020; updated January 24, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html.

8 Monique Valeris, 30 Insightful Quotes on Racism and the Power of Diversity, Good Housekeeping (June 5, 2020), (quote No. 1, attributed to the African American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou).

9 Id. (quote No. 8 attributed to the African American scholar and activist Angela Davis).

10 Id. (quote No. 29 attributed to the African American writer Ijeoma Oluo).

11 Id. (quote No. 26 attributed to Kofi Anan).